On the road to a B.S. in Apparel Design

I finished high school in 1993. Since then I have had a few jobs, some good and others not so good. Life in the real world was not working out too well for me, so now I am back in school hoping to better myself. I am in my first year of studies at UW-Stout where I plan to earn a bachelor’s degree in apparel design. This blog will chronicle my journey from neophyte sewer to master tailor and designer.

About Me

Monday, December 27, 2010

The theme for my intro to apparel design’s second group project was design elements. Each group had to make a presentation to the class about design element. Some groups were assigned different types of garments such as woven tops, swimwear, and pants. Other groups gave presentations about garment features such as sleeves and necklines. I was in the collar group.

The groups delivered PowerPoint presentations. Pictures were required, but we did not need to bring in any samples. My group’s presentation included flats and photos. Sewing a few collars would have been fun, but if I had been in the jackets group I would have been a lot happier about not needing to make samples.

There were eight people in my group. We each had a few collar types to research. Mine were bertha, mock, cape, and portrait. The bertha collar is a round flat piece of fabric that extends over the shoulders. A mock collar is a neck facing that extends over a top’s neck opening so that it appears to be a collar. A cape collar appears like a small cape worn over the shoulders. A portrait collar is made with two broad pieces extending from the neckline that lie flat against the body and overlap at center front.The PowerPoint presentations had to be loaded onto the instructor’s computer to use in class. I uploaded my group’s file, which gave me an opportunity to add one extra slide. It is not apparel, but the design process is the same. Many Stout apparel design graduates go to work for Kimberly-Clark designing diapers and incontinence pads, so I figured a cervical collar would be OK. But mostly I inserted it for comedic value. The class thought it was funny, and the instructor appreciated it too.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

I try to keep my blog positive, but not today. Today is Festivus when we air our grievances.

Intro to apparel design: It often seemed that the purpose of this class was to make us want to change majors. The instructor spent a lot of time explaining that the major is too difficult for us and that we will never achieve our dreams of fame and glory. I want support from my instructors; I do not want them to try to get rid of me.

Home sewing: Most of the construction classes at Stout focus on home sewing techniques. I should be learning industrial sewing techniques. Minneapolis Community and Technical College has industrial sewing machines only. Unless I go to work for a company that makes home sewing patterns I will need to know industrial sewing techniques.

Cut and sew knits: I love sewing. This class should have been fun, but it was not. Pattern making was not one of the prerequisites for this class, but the professor thought it was. I had to design all my own patterns, and I was graded on my pattern making. The class should have focused on construction techniques rather than pattern making and design techniques. I am also annoyed that there was no mention of coverstitch machines in the class. Stout has one industrial coverstitch, but this class used only home sewing machines.

Wisconsin: It is too damn cold, and I hate snow. Land’s End and American Girl are here, and Target is next door in Minnesota, but we do not have fashion. I will need to spend some time in New York.

That is it for now. Thank you for listening, and please feel free to use the comments section to air your own grievances. I hope you have a happy and joyous Festivus, and I wish you luck as you engage in your feats of strength.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

This semester I worked on three group projects in my Intro to Apparel Design class. The first two projects are long since finished, and the third one is due on Monday. Project number one was a color board.The department keeps all the boards. They are currently on display in our conference room. Mine is the charcoal gray one sandwiched between the browns. At the start of this project my class was shown the boards from last year’s intro class. Next year’s freshmen will get to see mine. I hope mine is shown to them as an example of what to do rather than what to avoid.

The purpose of this project was to learn about colors so we will understand how to use them in our designs. I am not sure what I learned. I found lots of gray fabric and gray items, and some of that stuff made it onto my final board in what I hope is an attractive layout, but what does that have to do with apparel design? I used to own a charcoal gray suit, I currently have a few pieces of gray apparel, and I have a few yards of gray fabrics, but I do not think there is anything I can do with that apparel and fabric now that I could not have done at the start of the semester.

Is this type of color boards used in industry? I have seen trend boards, color swatches, and fabric swatches, but outside of this class I have never seen three dimensional color boards like these. I think my group did a good job, but I do not find these boards inspiring or even aesthetically pleasing. As I look at the boards all I see is a lot of monochromatic stuff thrown together haphazardly.

While this project taught me nothing about colors it did provide a good lesson about group projects. Each group had eight members. That struck me as a large number for a project like this. I think a group of three or four would have been more than sufficient. The vast majority of my group’s work was done by four of us. The remaining four members showed up to some of our meetings, watched us work, and made an occasional comment or suggestion, but ultimately I feel they contributed nothing to the project. The other two projects had similar size groups with similar problems. Three or four of us do all the work, and everyone gets the credit. OK, I know I sound a little bitter there, but the past week I have been spending a few hours every day working on a group project while a few of the people in my group have done nearly nothing. Grrr. Two more weeks to break.

Monday, November 29, 2010

As summer came to an end I found myself on a juggling ball sewing spree, but once classes began I no longer had time for frivolous projects. A photo of my juggling balls worked its way into an early assignment for Cut and Sew Knits as an example of what can be done with stretch fabrics. Save for that one cameo, my balls spent the semester in my living room neglected and unused.

I intended to share photos of my balls with you, my loyal readers, but with the excitement of all my classes my balls were forgotten. I will now remedy this shortcoming.The blue and white balls are knit terry, the pink and brown ones are fake fur, and the rest are fleece. The red balls are stuffed with pinto beans, and the others have lentils. I think lentils are better.

Having balls is nice, but I cannot just leave them out. I went online to search for balls, and I now know their appropriate receptacle. I made a sack.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Ice covered sidewalks are slippery. Who knew? Yesterday morning I walked out my front door, hit the sidewalk, slipped, and hit the sidewalk. Tomorrow morning I will have surgery to repair my fractured right elbow. I am done sewing for the semester. There are two projects left for my cut and sew knits class. I will ask my professor to give me an incomplete so I can finish the class at a later time. If I have to drop the class I will not have to retake it. It is one of many special topics classes. I need to complete 5 special topics credits, but specific special topics class is required. Whether or not I complete cut and sew knits I plan to complete the two projects. My power stretch garment project is a bike outfit – pants and jersey. My comfort stretch garment project is a onesie (with tush flap) and a set of pajamas or a bathrobe. I love biking, and I think I will enjoy my onesie.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Hi, I am back. I know I promised to write more. I am sorry. It has been a rough semester. I took too heavy a course load. The rule from now on is two apparel classes per semester, no more. I dropped two of my classes, so hopefully I will have a little more time now. I did not want to drop the classes, but I felt that if I kept them I would end up failing everything. Spanish and line development are gone leaving me with cut and sew knits, textile evaluation, and intro to apparel design.

Line development was the most time consuming class. I found myself spending more than 20 hours per week doing homework for it, and it is only a three credit class. Even with all the time I put in I had only a C- average. C is passing, so it was obvious which class I should drop. It is not required for my concentration, but it is a useful class nevertheless. I may take it again in the future.These two boys were part of my men’s collection. You see why my grade was so bad.

Cut and sew knits is my only sewing class this semester. I love sewing, but I am having some difficulty in this class. Part of the problem was finding enough time, but now that I am done with line that is no longer an issue. The big problem is that I need to draft the patterns for all my projects, and I have not yet taken pattern making. Pattern was not a prerequisite for this class, but the professor thought it was.Some of my projects did not turn out so well, but I am pleased with this sweat shirt.

That’s all for today. I will be back soon with more pictures and some info about my other classes.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

There is a story behind my outfit, but I do not think it would make things better; the picture really speaks for itself. This is just the fit muslin. I will bedazzle you with more photos after I finish the project.